Lt. Andrew (Andy) Kolba III began his career in law enforcement as a Charlotte County Reserve Deputy Sheriff in 1979. He became a full time Deputy Sheriff in 1980 and was assigned to Road Patrol within the Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda areas. He was promoted to Narcotics Detective and worked on several large importation smuggling cases in excess of 22 tons of marijuana and kilos of cocaine. He then was promoted to the rank of Corporal and was put in charge of the Sheriff’s S.W.A.T. Team, and audio surveillance equipment. He served for many years as team Commander and was responsible for all the S.W.A.T. training ranging from team deployment, Sniper Program, rappelling and aerial and ground assaults.

. In 1985 Lt. Kolba was chosen by the FBI from a list of applicants to represent SW Florida law enforcement by attending Bomb School (E.O.D.) at Redstone Arsenal Military Base in Huntsville Alabama. He has served with two other agencies - the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. While at Collier he was assigned to Road Patrol in Immokalee. While serving at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office he was assigned to Road Patrol duties and was a trainer and assistant team leader for Lee County’s S.W.A.T. team.

Lt. Kolba returned to Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in 2001 and was selected by the Sheriff to oversee all Special Operations as a Lt. Commander. The units under his command were Aviation, Marine Patrol, K9, S.W.A.T. Juvenile/SRO, Mounted Patrol, Dive Team, and two members of the Bomb Tech. Task Force. In Jan 2009 in the restructuring of a new Sheriff, Lt. Kolba has been reassigned as a Watch Commander. There he oversees the daily operations of the Sheriff’s Office.

In addition to extensive specialized law enforcement training, Lieutenant Kolba has had several management courses over the years. He has attended several universities and is pursuing a degree in Business Administration. He recently graduated from The Southern Police Institute’s 53rd Command Officer’s Development Course from the University Of Louisville.

Lt. Kolba has been a resident of Charlotte County since 1972 and is a graduate of Charlotte High School. Lt. Kolba and his wife, Barbara, have been married over 29 years. They have two children Clint and Nicole who are currently attending college.